Tuesday, 3 March 2009

As a performer who unashamedly works in the lower end of the market (i.e. badly paid!) I am used to audiences who get up and walk around, get involved in a performance and generally don't treat the entertainment with too much reverence.

This I do not mind. My act in particular is geared to audience interaction. I need feedback for the act to work. I cannot get up on a stage that is remote from the audience and just spout prepared routines and patter.

What I do object to is when an audience (and it has to be said that this mainly happens on Hen Nights) gets up, storms the stage and generally interferes with my act to such an extent that it is ruined.

On Saturday night, in a rough, backstreet pub in North London, this is what happened. The disruption was such that, 3 minutes into the second half, I turned the PA system off and walked off stage. I refused to return save to announce the stripper who similarly had major problems trying to work when the girls (I refuse to call them ladies) ripped his costume off, took his glasses off and generally mauled him.

Why on earth do they pay good money for a night out and then disrupt proceedings to such an extent that any semblance of entertainment is lost?

Is it that they are so unused to live entertainment (as opposed to TV or film) that they have no idea how to behave? 90% of shows are to respectful ladies who enjoy the atmosphere of live entertainment. Is it just another example of minority yob culture? Not so many years ago this is just the sort of thing you would expect from a male audience but nowadays men seem to be much better behaved that the female of the species.